Note: This card is no longer available and any offer details may be outdated.
Our take
If you have high-interest credit card debt, the Discover it® Balance Transfer* credit card could help you reduce your balance, interest-free, for a period of time. Once your debt’s eliminated, you can use this card to earn 5% cash back on rotating categories (activation required) that change each quarter (up to the quarterly maximum, then 1%).
This card offers a competitive 0% intro APR for 18 months to pay down a transferred balance (then a variable APR of 17.24% to 28.24%), but other balance transfer credit cards might offer a lower transfer fee. The Discover it Balance Transfer has a 3% intro balance transfer fee that goes up to a 5% fee on future balance transfers (see terms)*. That means you’ll need to initiate any transfers quickly before the fee jumps to 5% -- the highest balance transfer fee on the market.
The Discover it Balance Transfer credit card offers a solid 0% intro APR on balance transfers, but if you can’t take advantage of the 3% balance transfer fee by its cut-off date, you may want to consider other options first. Paying a transfer fee is common among the best balance transfer credit cards, though 3% is standard.
Pros and cons
Pros
Help mitigate credit card debt
0% introductory purchase APR for 6 months (then 17.24% to 28.24% variable)
0% introductory balance transfer APR for 18 months (then 17.24% to 28.24% variable)
Low introductory 3% balance transfer fee (up to 5% on future balance transfers; see terms)
Cons
Balance transfer fee will eventually increase to 5% (see terms)
Must activate rotating categories to benefit from the higher rewards rate
Rewards
The Discover it Balance Transfer credit card offers 5% cash back on rotating quarterly categories on up to $1,500 per quarter (then 1%) and 1% cash back on all other purchases. The quarterly rewards have to be activated manually as they change every three months. You’ll miss out on earning that higher cash-back rate if you forget to activate them.
Discover’s bonus rewards categories for 2024 include the following:
- Jan. 1 through March 31: Restaurants and drug stores
- April 1 through June 30: Gas stations, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, home improvement stores and public transit
- July 1 through Sept. 30: Announcing on June 1
- Oct. 1 through Dec. 31: Announcing on Sept. 1
The Discover it Balance Transfer card is a rare balance transfer card with boosted rewards. Still, if you plan to pay down a balance while using the card for new purchases, it’ll take longer to pay down your debt. Instead, you should focus on paying off your transferred balance to get out of debt before using this card for its elevated rewards.
Introductory APR offer
The primary use for this card is its 0% introductory APR offer for balance transfers for the first 18 months. But you’ll also have a 0% introductory APR on new purchases for the first six months, and then a regular APR of 17.24% to 28.24% variable APR applies.
The Discover it Balance Transfer card isn’t an ideal card to finance a large purchase considering you’d only have six months to pay down a new purchase before the regular purchase APR kicks in. If you’re looking to finance a large purchase and pay it off over time, there are 0% introductory APR credit cards with intro periods as long as 21 months.
The best way to use this card is for a balance transfer. You can transfer a balance from another credit card to the Discover it Balance Transfer card and pay down your balance without accruing interest for 18 months. Just make sure you can pay down your balance during that time period or you’ll begin accruing interest charges.
To figure out how much you’ll need to pay toward the balance each month, divide your transferred balance (plus the balance transfer fee) by 18.
For example, if you’re transferring $5,589 (the current average credit card balance in the US), you’d need to pay at least $319.82 for 18 consecutive months to pay it off before accruing interest That’s including the 3% balance transfer fee -- or $167.67 -- which gets tacked on to the total balance.
Why should you use a balance transfer?
Moving high-interest credit card debt to a balance transfer credit card with a 0% intro APR can save you time and money. A balance transfer can substantially improve your finances depending on how much credit card debt you have. By using a balance transfer, you can avoid costly interest charges while working to pay off your debt.
Paying down your credit card balance can also improve your credit utilization or your debt-to-credit ratio. The less of your total available credit you’re using, the better off your credit score will be. Experts suggest using less than 30% of your total assigned credit limit at any given time. For example, if you have access to $10,000 across all lines of credit, you should avoid using more than $3,000 at any given time.
Fees
The balance transfer fee is the most important fee to be aware of with the Discover it Balance Transfer card. You’ll have an introductory fee of 3% provided you initiate any balance transfer by a specified date in your card terms. Otherwise, the fee increases to 5%, which is the highest on the market.
So, if you’re transferring a balance of $5,589 – and assuming you meet the 3% deadline – you’ll be charged a fee of $167.67, which will be added to your card balance. In this case, you’d need to pay approximately $320 a month to pay down your balance in 18 months. If your fee bumps up to 5% before you initiate a balance transfer, your fee increases to $279.45, and you’d need to pay a little over $326 a month.
Is it worth it to pay a balance transfer fee?
While paying an extra few hundred dollars (depending on the size of the debt you’re transferring) may sound painful, it’s usually more affordable than continuing to accrue interest while working on your debt -- as long as you can pay your balance before the intro APR period ends.
Let’s look back at the previous balance transfer example, where you transfer $5,589 in existing credit card debt to a balance transfer card. With a 3% balance transfer fee, you’d have to pay $320 a month to eliminate your debt before the 18-month introductory period expires. A 5% balance transfer fee brings this monthly payment to $326.
If you didn’t use a balance transfer card and instead paid the same amount -- let’s go with the higher amount of $326 -- a month while continuing to accrue interest, you’d end up paying far more than you would with the balance transfer fee. If your credit card charges 20% APR (the current average credit card interest rate), you’d end up paying $1,048 in interest and it would take 21 months to pay off your debt.
This adds an extra three months to your debt payoff timeline, as well as more than $700 in additional interest charges. So, in most cases, paying this balance transfer fee will save you money.
Although there are balance transfer cards without fees, most of them don’t offer long 0% intro APR periods and may have other requirements.
Alternative cards
BankAmericard® credit card
The BankAmericard® credit card* is another good balance transfer credit card to pick. Its 0% introductory APR is on par with a lot of competitor options, offering 18 months to pay down any transferred balance without accruing interest (then 16.24% to 26.24% variable). The BankAmericard charges an introductory 3% balance transfer fee for 60 days from account opening (then 4%). You’ll need to make any transfers within the first 60 days of having the card to qualify for the introductory offer, however.
See our full review of the BankAmericard for more information.
U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card
The U.S. Bank Visa Platinum Card* offers 18 billing cycles of 0% interest on balance transfers and new purchases (then 19.74% to 29.74% variable) with a 3% ($5 minimum) balance transfer fee. This is a solid card to use if you need to pay down a large balance or finance an upcoming purchase. But the U.S. Bank Visa Platinum Card doesn’t offer any rewards, so you’ll need to weigh whether long-term use or the initial balance transfer fee is more important.
See our full review of the U.S. Bank Visa Platinum Card review for more information.
The bottom line
If you need to get rid of some lingering credit card debt, consider using a balance transfer credit card to save a chunk of cash on interest charges.
The Discover it Balance Transfer offers a competitive intro APR on balance transfers and elevated rewards.
But its short intro APR on new purchases and balance transfer fee for transfers initiated after the deadline rules this out as one of the best balance transfer credit cards. To find the best fit for your finances, browse our top picks for the best balance transfer credit cards.
FAQs
The industry standard is a 3% to 5% fee.
Discover states that most balance transfers are completed within four days for existing cardholders. However, for new cardholders, it’ll take 14 days before Discover begins processing the request.
CNET’s pick for best balance transfer credit card is the BankAmericard credit card.
*All information about the Discover it Balance Transfer, BankAmericard credit card and the U.S. Bank Visa Platinum Card have been collected independently by CNET and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
The editorial content on this page is based solely on objective, independent assessments by our writers and is not influenced by advertising or partnerships. It has not been provided or commissioned by any third party. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by our partners.
